Video of two sisters in India fighting back against men who allegedly harassed them has gone viral .

The footage shows Aarti and Pooja Kumar landing punches and thrashing the three men with a belt while riding a bus in the northern state of Haryana , an area with a reputation for hostility to women . Violence against women and rape in India have made international headlines in the past few years , and the scene of two women fighting back has sparked widespread praise on social media .

Aarti Kumar , 22 , told CNN that she and Pooja , 19 , were standing at a bus stop near their college Friday when the men came up to them and began taunting and throwing pieces of paper with their telephone numbers . The sisters tried to ignore the men but they persisted . Then they followed the sisters onto the bus , she said .

You 're too poor to even ride the bus , Kumar recalled the men saying .

So she and her sister did what they thought they had to do to defend and protect themselves . One lurched toward one of the men , thrashing what looks like a belt . Both grabbed one man 's sweater and pulled . Two of the men grabbed the women , and they struggled to get free . One sister pressed the palm of her hand against a man trying to overcome her . Aarti Kumar said that no one on the bus tried to help the sisters , and some passengers shouted for them to stop fighting the men and get off .

The men have been arrested , and charges are pending further investigation , police told CNN .

The video , shot by a passenger , has been shared in many news stories in India and inspired the Twitter hashtag `` IFoughtThemBack . ''

Some women are tweeting that they too have fought men who harassed them and are glad that the video is garnering so much attention .

In a highly unusual turn , the government is rewarding the Kumar sisters for their actions .

Harayana 's Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the sisters would be recognized with `` bravery '' awards that include cash on January 26 , India 's Republic Day .

Kumar said her parents have been very supportive of her and her sister , also unusual because girls and women in some areas of India are often discouraged from reporting instances of harassment .

Stories of rape and sexual harassment in India have received much attention recently .

In June , three brothers confessed to raping two teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh state . Police said at first that the suspects hanged their victims from a mango tree , but an investigation of their deaths concluded last week that the girls committed suicide .

A gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in late 2012 brought into stark relief the danger that some women face in India . The crime ignited campaigns to call attention to violent crime that targets women .

@highlight

Aarti and Pooja Kumar say they were being taunted at a bus stop by three men

@highlight

The men followed them onto a bus ; the 19 - and 22-year-old decided to fight back

@highlight

A video of the young women 's actions has gone viral in India and been praised by officials